IRVINE, Calif. – Feb. 4, 2014 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released a joint analysis with Down Payment Resource on the availability of down payment programs across the country, which found that 87 percent of U.S. homes qualify for down payment help.

RealtyTrac looked at 2,290 down payment programs from Down Payment Resource’s Homeownership Program Index and found that out of more than 78 million U.S. single family homes and condos in 1,792 counties with sufficient home value data, more than 68 million (87 percent) would qualify for a down payment program available in the county where they are located based on the maximum price requirements for those programs and the estimated value of the properties.

“Many homebuyers, especially Millennials, haven’t fully investigated their home financing options because they are pessimistic about qualifying for a mortgage. Our Homeownership Program Index highlights the wide range and availability of down payment programs available to today’s homebuyers. In fact, 91 percent of the 2,290 programs in our registry have funds available to lend to eligible buyers. Plus, income limits vary depending on the market and programs extend beyond just first-time homebuyers,” said Rob Chrane, president and CEO of Down Payment Resource. “It’s important for buyers to research down payment programs as part of their loan shopping process.”

“Historically low homeownership rates across nearly every age demographic have led to a public policy push to lower the barrier to homeownership through down payments as low as 3 percent, but the fact is that the barrier to homeownership is often much lower than even that 3 percent for borrowers who take advantage of one of the myriad down payment help programs available across the country,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Prospective buyers — or their agents — willing to put in a few minutes of time to find out what programs are available to them will put themselves in a much better position to successfully purchase a home.”

10 counties with most homes qualifying for down payment help

Among the 10 U.S. counties with the most homes qualifying for down payment help, Wayne County, Mich., in the Detroit metro area had the highest percentage of homes qualifying at 94.37 percent, followed by Dallas County and Harris County (Houston) in Texas, both with nearly 93 percent of homes qualifying, and Clark County, Nev., in the Las Vegas metro area with more than 92 percent of homes qualifying.

Among these 10 counties, Los Angeles County had the lowest percentage of homes qualifying for down payment help with just over 78 percent, followed by Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida with 82 percent and 83 percent of homes qualifying respectively.

“Post downturn generations are typically more frugal, and today’s homebuyers accordingly have lower backend debt-to-income ratios and subsequently more buying power then the last generation, but most have little money for down payments,” said Mark Hughes, Chief Operating Officer at First Team Real Estate, covering the Southern California market. “More than half the interested buyers in our agents’ pipelines are more concerned with pulling together today’s required down payment than meeting the income-to-debt ratio requirements.

“Down payment assistance tends to suffer from lack of awareness,” Hughes continued. “Guidelines and specifics tend to change with economic swings. Agents typically don’t keep up with the changing requirements and many buyers that depend on their guidance may be unaware of the opportunities. At First Team we have updated lending opportunities and requirements circulated weekly to keep our buyers apprised of the opportunities available.”

“We have seen a dramatic increase in financing options available and loosening credit scores with conventional 3 percent down payments readily available for qualified homebuyers,” said Mike Pappas, CEO and president of the Keyes Company, covering the South Florida market. “This is great news for the millennials and the homebuyers re-entering the market.”

10 U.S. Counties with Most Homes Qualifying for Down Payment Help

State

County

Total Single Family Homes & Condos in County

Total that Qualify for Down Payment Assistance

Pct that Qualify

CA

Los Angeles

1,762,256

1,377,813

78.18%

IL

Cook

1,372,463

1,163,913

84.80%

AZ

Maricopa

1,227,121

1,052,746

85.79%

TX

Harris

1,038,027

961,957

92.67%

MI

Wayne

692,174

653,221

94.37%

CA

San Diego

717,165

618,050

86.18%

FL

Miami-Dade

716,924

589,683

82.25%

NV

Clark

605,679

558,411

92.20%

TX

Dallas

574,849

533,518

92.81%

FL

Broward

623,634

523,178

83.89%

20 counties with highest percentage of homes qualifying for down payment help

Among counties with a population of at least 100,000, those with the highest percentage of homes qualifying for down payment assistance were counties in Mississippi, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Texas, Ohio and Delaware.

“While lessening down payment amounts may be welcomed by consumers, few will realize the benefits due to the added complications, delays, and restrictions added within the loan process of such opportunities,” said Michael Mahon, executive vice president at HER Realtors, covering the Ohio housing markets of Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. “For example, lowering the down payment amounts out of pocket for a consumer does little to help their plight when they are required to maintain documented cash reserves in the amount of six to 12 months for qualification for certain lending programs.”

20 Counties with Highest Percentage of Homes Qualifying for Down Payment Help(Population 100,000 or more)

State

County

Total Single Family Homes & Condos in County

Total that Qualify for Down Payment Assistance

Pct that Qualify

MS

DeSoto

48,249

48,196

99.89%

CA

Imperial

29,353

29,308

99.85%

IL

DeKalb

26,155

26,104

99.81%

PA

Cambria

22,514

22,444

99.69%

IL

Winnebago

86,116

85,848

99.69%

PA

Fayette

35,039

34,915

99.65%

MD

Charles

46,512

46,323

99.59%

CA

Kings

25,832

25,711

99.53%

PA

Blair

40,778

40,584

99.52%

NY

Oswego

28,768

28,631

99.52%

IL

Rock Island

51,294

51,041

99.51%

MS

Jackson

43,361

43,138

99.49%

TX

Kaufman

29,676

29,521

99.48%

CA

San Joaquin

155,382

154,497

99.43%

OH

Ashtabula

28,696

28,531

99.43%

MS

Hinds

72,831

72,410

99.42%

CA

Fresno

197,660

196,477

99.40%

CA

Stanislaus

121,040

120,313

99.40%

DE

Kent

27,069

26,893

99.35%

MS

Rankin

40,501

40,235

99.34%

20 counties with lowest percentage of homes qualifying for down payment help

Among counties with a population of at least 100,000, those with the lowest percentage of homes qualifying for down payment assistance were led by New York County (Manhattan), N.Y. with just 28.84 percent and San Francisco County, Calif., with 33 percent. Other states represented were South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Alaska, Michigan, Colorado, North Carolina, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Virginia.

“In our market the greatest obstacle for buyer’s getting into the market is competition and lack of inventory. In many cases FHA and low money down buyers are getting beat out in multi-offer situations by buyers with at least 20 percent down and cash buyers,” said Greg Smith, owner/broker at RE/MAX Alliance, covering the Denver market. “Overall I think the new low down programs will help long-term, but may take time to have any real impact.”

20 Counties with Lowest Percentage of Homes Qualifying for Down Payment Help(Population 100,000 or more)

State

County

Total Single Family Homes & Condos in County

Total that Qualify for Down Payment Assistance

Pct that Qualify

NY

New York

109,273

31,514

28.84%

CA

San Francisco

140,597

46,409

33.01%

CA

Marin

69,624

24,257

34.84%

CA

San Mateo

178,794

65,027

36.37%

CA

Santa Clara

408,483

175,459

42.95%

SC

Beaufort

66,162

33,240

50.24%

GA

Forsyth

58,368

29,489

50.52%

MD

Howard

91,171

49,555

54.35%

AK

Anchorage

71,254

42,276

59.33%

MI

Washtenaw

98,775

58,904

59.63%

SC

Charleston

116,987

70,246

60.05%

CO

Boulder

94,403

57,013

60.39%

NC

Brunswick

52,642

32,838

62.38%

ME

York

57,823

36,532

63.18%

VT

Chittenden

43,701

27,629

63.22%

NC

Wake

278,794

178,220

63.93%

MN

Washington

80,480

51,658

64.19%

MA

Middlesex

367,137

236,500

64.42%

VA

Arlington

56,033

36,113

64.45%

WA

King

581,919

375,638

64.55%

Down Payment Help Facts

Following are key facts based on analysis of Down Payment Resource’s Homeownership Index of the 2,290 Down Payment Help programs nationwide:

Approximately 91 percent of programs have funds available now for homebuyers.

The average amount of down payment assistance across all counties is $11,565.

At least one down payment program is available in all 3,143 U.S. counties, and more than 2,000 counties have more than 10 down payment programs available to prospective homebuyers.

More than half of the down payment programs (54 percent) are Community Seconds, where a second mortgage is issued by a Housing Financing Agency (HFA) or nonprofit organization with a very low or no interest rate. The payment on the second mortgage may be deferred or forgiven incrementally for each year the buyer remains in the home. In a typical scenario this could reduce the amount of cash needed to close from $20,000 to $200.

About RealtyTrac
RealtyTrac is a leading supplier of U.S. real estate data, with nationwide parcel-level records for more than 129 million U.S. parcels that include property characteristics, tax assessor data, sales and mortgage deed records, Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) and 20 million active and historical default, foreclosure auction and bank-owned properties. RealtyTrac’s housing data and foreclosure reports are relied on by the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury Department, HUD, numerous state housing and banking departments, investment funds as well as millions of real estate professionals and consumers, to help evaluate housing trends and make informed decisions about real estate.

About Down Payment Resource’s Homeownership Program Index
Atlanta-based Down Payment Resource connects real estate professionals and homebuyers to down payment programs and eligible homes. Winner of the 2011 Inman News Innovator “Most Innovative New Technology” award, Down Payment Resource is licensed to Multiple Listing Services, Realtor Associations, financial institutions and housing counselors across the country. The Homeownership Program Index (HPI) measures the availability and characteristics of down payment programs administered by state and local Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs), nonprofits and other housing organizations. It analyzed state, local and national programs available in the DOWN PAYMENT RESOURCE™ registry as of January 14, 2015.

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.